Cycles
by Padme Nijiri
Summary: His words were soft and whispered against her neck. Turning her head lightly, her nose grazed his cheek. Marcus suddenly dropped his hand and stepped back
1. Emulation

Some Time Later  
  
Lightning flashed on the dark sky that evening. It lit up the skyline of downtown London and even reached down into the cracks to illuminate the streets. The light faded and thunder followed. It made the car alarms go off with its close proximity.  
  
Many of the humans jumped, some did not. Another flash of lightning illuminated a stranger's face. He had not been there in some time. His shoulder length dark hair quickly became soaked as it began to rain. He stepped out of the shadows, on to the street and began walking towards his black Mercedes C230 Kompressor.  
  
Europe had such cheap cars, if one knew where to look. The man's leather jacket flapped in a gust of wind. More lightning and thunder followed almost instantaneously. The stranger's blue eyes flashed and his teeth elongated. Glancing around the crowded streets, he noticed that no one was paying attention to him. No one but her. A memory of another flashed through his mind. The resemblance was remarkable. He pushed it away, disgust filling him at who she was probably shagging at that moment. It was almost her time.  
  
The brunette woman made eye contact with him. She read his expensive clothes and saw the Mercedes keys in his hands. Definitely old money, he probably belonged to an aristocratic family from around the early 1900s. Maybe textiles? She stepped to the right just enough to barely collide with him.  
  
The bag she was carrying fell to the ground. Mementos, papers, make-up, everything close to the top spilled out onto the wet pavement. The man quickly bent down to retrieve the items, as did the woman. She purposefully hit her hand against the back of his.  
  
"I'm sorry. I'm such a klutz."  
  
"Don't worry about it. It was completely my fault Miss?" A slightly Irish accent graced his words. Once blue eyes, now hazel met chocolate brown.  
  
"Banks, Sonya Banks."  
  
His eyes flashed for a moment before responding. She had one's name, and the other's face. "Kraven. Are you headed for the train?"  
  
"Yes." A complete lie, she lived around the corner.  
  
"Allow me to personally drive you home," Kraven eyes inconspicuously dropped down to assess her form. Unfortunately a raincoat hid her body from him. He could however hear her heart. It had sped up a little bit since they began talking and her eyes had dilated. He inwardly smiled. Lust. He could use a little distraction tonight. Who knows, if she was good enough he might just keep her as a pet. Moscow, Russia  
  
Selene awoke at twilight with an insatiable hunger. Her short brown hair hung in clumps around her face. Normally chocolate brown eyes had become icy blue. It almost seemed as if she had no irises they had become so light. The pupils glanced across the other side of the room to the other occupant who still slept deeply. His dark blond hair lay crumpled and sheets hid his strong features from her.  
  
Quickly getting out of bed she went to the refrigerator and took out a packet of blood. Biting into it she let her memories take her back to Ordoghaz nearly three centuries ago.  
  
She had been studying the ways of vampires, only having been one for five years. In that short time, she had gone from barley a woman to a full woman. She had reached her full height of 5'7" and her body had matured. But she was not graced with the monthly periods of humankind.  
  
Her well-tuned hearing picked up noises from the bottom floor of the ritual orgies that occurred there. At first she had blushed almost constantly thinking about it. Seeing her discomfort, Viktor kept her hidden and had told the Vampires to take it somewhere else. He wanted his new daughter comfortable and secure.  
  
Selene briefly wondered why there were no female vampires walking around with newborns or swollen bellies with how much procreation seemed to go on. Gathering her courage she finally asked Viktor. The man smiled at her and briefly remembered another young woman asking the same question, this one with golden hair and green eyes.  
  
Selene walked away with a little discomfort at the knowledge. Vampire women had much longer cycles than normal females. Newborn vampire babies were not necessary for the race to survive so they needn't even have a cycle, however they did. Once every three hundred years a vampire woman came into heat. She became edgy and constantly hungry. Her pupils were the perpetual blue until after her time had passed. If she wanted to bear a child, she could choose a male and stay with him until after her time had passed.  
  
However many vampire women said that they were too vain to consider disfiguring their bodies' for forty weeks to carry a child. Or so they said. In truth, they were scared. Vampire women had problems carrying a fetus. And if the pregnancy did not abort itself, few survived the birth. And then the child almost always died or was stillborn. Viktor told her that he lost both his wife and daughter in childbirth. It was quite the equivocation, but it was the truth. It was a huge risk to take.  
  
There was also the small matter of food supply. If vampires procreated at the same rate of humans, but lived for thousands of years, they would run out of food. As it was, new vampires were rare and only elders could create them without anyone's consent. There was simply no need.  
  
Selene groaned. She had maybe a week or two before it hit her. And the cycles almost always came the night of a full moon. She briefly wondered how Sonja had become pregnant. Indeed, Sonja had been about three hundred when she became pregnant. If she and Lucian had lived, they would have only had three children now. If they had all survived.  
  
Michael woke up and sniffed the air. Selene's scent intoxicated him and he felt himself grow stiff. The first time she smelt like this, he had quickly taken a cold shower. He had many of those since then. He wanted to ask her, but fear that she would be offended held him back.  
  
He rolled out of bed and looked toward Selene. She was standing by the window. Silver moonlight bounced off her skin and hair making her glow. God she was heavenly. He quickly thought of something else and stepped into the bathroom.  
  
It was not fair to Michael. She had to tell him. Selene heard him gasp as cold water hit his body. The wind from outside cooled her own heated body but did little to help with the hunger. It also brought the scent of the city. Humans, cars, and vampires. Old and rich Vampires. Powerful ones that wanted to take over Viktor's spot as an elder.  
  
However Marcus was still left. And who knows what he wanted now. She had a feeling that his awakening and had not gone as planned. The few lycans that dared to approach them said the coven was in disarray. Marcus had gone crazy and had fled the mansion. Since then, strange murders had been reported around Europe. The latest string was in Moscow. If they had decided to take advantage of her cycle, Selene knew it meant giving up the chase for Marcus for several years.  
  
Selene briefly wondered how Michael had not been driven crazy. The thought passed as he stepped out of the shower. She might as well tell him now. The full moon looked closer than she liked.  
  
"Michael. I need to tell you something about vampires..."  
  
London  
  
Kraven glanced at the naked woman beside him. She had been good. And tasty. Very, very tasty. Blood leaked from various spots on her body. Throwing caution to the wind, he bit on his own wrist and held it to her mouth.  
  
The first few drops that hit her mouth made her head turn towards him. She grabbed his wrist and started sucking greedily. Kraven hissed in pleasure and after a too short a moment ripped his wrist away from her.  
  
Her body started to writhe as her heart sped up and suddenly stopped for several minutes. Then it started to beat again and once brown eyes became blue. Viktor had created his own Sonja. Now Kraven had his own Selene. 


	2. A time for everything

I hope you liked the last chapter. Here is chapter 2. It has some gore in the middle, and romance at the end. Disclaimers apply.  
  
Michael stared at Selene. He was dumbfounded to say the least. "You could die?"  
  
A nod.  
  
He felt his stomach drop. "Oh God, Selene. Then why do this? Why even be around me?"  
  
Her eyes flashed with something unknown as she turned her head toward the window. "Why do human women become pregnant after they have a miscarriage? I want this. Even if it means my life, I'm willing to take the chance."  
  
"Are we ready for this? I mean we've never even...had sex," the last part came out choked. Even as a pre-med student, Michael blushed a little. He had fantasized about having sex with Selene or making love. Making love was definitely the right term to use. Maybe.  
  
Did he love her? He cared for her, and he was certain she cared for him. However, the pain from before hit him. What would happen to him if he lost Selene? And the not even-created child? He knew he would feel horrible. And then there was the matter of safety.  
  
"You'll be weak when you're pregnant." A sharp look made him rephrase, "Vulnerable at least. And I'll have to leave you alone to get supplies."  
  
Selene sighed. She sifted her brown locks with her hand, pushing them momentarily out of her face before they fell into their previous position. She faced him. Lids closed over almost non-existent pupils and her scent spiked. "We'll survive. There are abandoned buildings in Moscow, or we can go somewhere else. We have a week. But I will tell you this. Every male vampire within a mile will be able to smell me. And they'll want me.  
  
"In the old days it was easy for the pair to lock themselves in a room, or for the female vampire to go to the edge of the manor lands and lock herself in a cabin. If we chose to let this pass, I'll be exhausted either way for the first couple days. And you admitted previously that you can smell me. I'll be irresistible to you."  
  
He almost shouted, "You already are!" Instead, he replied, "We need to get out of the city. Go into the country."  
  
Selene nodded. She leaned against the window and vainly checked to see if it would open up anymore.  
  
"So...Where to?"  
  
Selene Smiled. Marcus roamed the streets and breathed deeply. His heightened picked up Selene's musky sent. His body instantly became swollen with arousal and want for her. It had been so long since a vampire had been in heat. Besides, she had a good status and would not be considered too low for the elder. She was Viktor's adopted daughter.  
  
Shaking his head, the hybrid forced himself to cool down. He could faintly smell the other hybrid that was close to her. Their scents had slightly intertwined and he knew the other hybrid had unknowingly stated his domain. Marcus wanted to rip the his throat out. He had the right as an elder.  
  
Once again, he shook his head again. Ration fought against the aristocratic attitude that he had held for so long. He almost felt like he was splitting into two different people. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he caught a different scent. An old scent, old and very female and powerful—threatening him. He turned toward his left and disappeared into the night.  
  
London, the next night  
  
"Alexi Dokavitch Found Murdered in Her Uptown Apartment"  
  
Sonya glanced at the paper in her head. Powerful people were perishing to a mysterious disease. A maid had gone in to the room to clean it up and found her employer's body ripped to shreds with blood everywhere. The body had been mangles so much it was hard to recognize who it even was.  
  
Kraven came in the room and glanced over her shoulder at the paper. "Damn him. He's calling to much attention to himself, and our race."  
  
"Who?" Sonya glanced up at her maker. Her eyes held a question.  
  
"Marcus. A vampire elder, turned into a filthy beast. It's driven him crazy and vengeful."  
  
Sonya nodded still a little dumbfounded. After turning her, Kraven told her of the vampire-lycan war and everything that had happened in the past year. Kraven twisted it to his own liking, making himself out as the hero and the others as beasts and traitors.  
  
"How did he become this filthy beast? You didn't tell me that," Sonya's eyebrows furrowed. She had only been after his money and now look at where she was. Never to go into the beautiful sunlight again to turn her now alabaster skin a lovely toast color. She felt like he had been hiding something from her. They were both bull shitters that much she could garnish. They wanted a higher position in society and would go through any means to get there.  
  
A vampire! Who even thought such creatures existed anymore? Well, she had not. And now, she was one. Eternity as she was now. Well, she would start aging in several millennia, Kraven, and eventually she would die, but not for tens of thousands of years. He also told her about the female cycles. She had never wanted children anyway. They were screaming brats.  
  
Sonya suddenly decided she would play herself off as naïve and dumb as she could until she could get what she wanted from Kraven. What did she want again? Money was a definite yes. Maybe also the truth. However, she did not think she would get that from him. They would use each other for physical pleasure as much as they wanted, and then go their separate ways.  
  
Sonya also wanted to know other Vampires. She wanted true genuine friends that she could trust and confide in that would not hurt her. She had never had a true friend in all of her life as a human she had always had some backstabbing bitch that she could never rely on because she was a backstabbing bitch. Well, that would end. She only had Kraven now. Her human family had all died a long time ago.  
  
She garnished this in the instant between the question and the answer Kraven gave her.  
  
"Viktor spilled Lycan blood in the tomb of the elders. He did not clean it up, thinking that only vampire blood could waken vampires. Apparently, the lycan blood not only woke Marcus but also changed and warped him into a hybrid."  
  
Sonya nodded. Marcus would be have been an interesting fellow to meet if he were not so blood thirsty.  
  
Ordoghaz  
  
Erika sighed and leaned out the window. He was gone. He had fled the mansion and left things in disarray. Now, whatever Death Dealers there were had left the Ordoghaz in search of the crazed elder. Was he crazy?  
  
Her first and only encounter had been when she went to clean the lycan blood in the tomb. She was on her hands and knees scrubbing at the ground when the tomb opened suddenly.  
  
She backed into the corner, holding a soapy and bloody hand to her mouth. He glanced at her. Suddenly he was there holding her up and looking in her eyes. He began drinking of her. She groaned at sensation and tried to push him away, but it became an embrace. Then he was done. His appearance quickly changed from bones and malnutrition to one of a fit, handsome man. He touched her cheek and left.  
  
Erika lifted her hand to her neck; her maid's collar hid the marks. She had survived. Nothing had changed in her. She wanted him back. Indeed, Kraven only drank of her for pleasure, until she almost died. Marcus was different. His bite was gentle where Kraven's had been demanding.  
  
She sighed and turned around. She knew he was killing the other vampires. Why not her? She walked out of the servants' quarters and went back to work. She had much to clean and an aristocrat to dress for tonight's party. The blood needed to be warmed and marrow cakes prepared. There was so much to do in such little time.  
  
Hungarian Countryside, four days later  
  
Selene and Michael had quickly left Moscow. She knew where she wanted to go, and hoped the building would still be there. They had gathered their things and driven as fast as legally, and sometimes illegally possible, to Hungary during the nighttime hours. From there, Selene directed Michael to an abandoned farm. It was literally in the middle of nowhere.  
  
"When I was an old enough vampire, I bought this place."  
  
"What is it?" Michael questioned her. It was so hard not to touch her, she smelled so heavenly. However now, he could smell something else besides her lust. Tears.  
  
"My home. I wanted to remember my family and have somewhere to escape to when the training became too much. Only Viktor knew I had purchased the land and I have always kept the deeds in my suit."  
  
Michael glanced around the cottage. It did not appear to be dilapidated at all. And, while things were dust covered, they seemed in good repair. Not like the Vampire elder had come through and destroyed the family.  
  
"When I first came back here, I cleaned the house, and fixed as much as I could. I would return intermittently and eventually, I hired a couple human workers to fix this place up. The kitchen is quite modern, even if I do not use it. The house is sturdy, with a good foundation and there is furniture in most of the rooms."  
  
Michael smiled, "That's good. I guess we should stay here while you are pregnant."  
  
Selene shook her head. "No, we still need to stop Marcus. We'll stay for two weeks and come back about three weeks before I'm ready to give birth."  
  
Michael stared at her. "You need a hospital to give birth in, what if something goes wrong?"  
  
"We'll deal with that when the time comes. Besides, you have training, and I have faith in you."  
  
"Selene, I never learned how to deliver a child. Moreover, I am only a general surgeon. I don't know any OB/GYN procedures."  
  
Selene smiled and walked closer to him, a softly spoken phrase escaped her lips: "I have faith in you."  
  
She was so close. Michael glanced at the moon, almost full. Her scent was all around him. Then she was against him, in his arms with her head on his chest. "Oh God, Selene." He tilted her chin up and kissed her. A groan escaped her. Her body felt so heated and tingly. Her clothes seemed to suffocate her limbs. Her eyes had turned completely white and she knew it was her time.  
  
She led him to the bedroom and closed the door. So what do you al think? I know it is a little explicit at the end. I am surprised I am not blushing, well that much. The next chapter should be out sooner, as I'm on spring break. 


	3. Burning rubber

Thanks for the reviews and the support. It really helps me to write.  
  
Standard Disclaimers Apply  
  
Erika left the aristocrat's room and went back to her own servant's quarters. Her room was small, but it had enough space for a twin bed, desk and bookcase. She had been promoted to the single occupancy room instead of the maids' general sleeping quarters in the past month. Most of the other maids had too. These rooms were the lower death-dealer rooms.  
  
Flipping the switch, her blue eyes alighted on an envelope. Erika smiled, it was payday. Every five years or so, Vampires received an allowance from the Regent or Elder of the House. Since Marcus and Kraven were both gone, a new regent had taken over the responsibilities that Kraven previously had. Slan controlled all the finances and investments of the Coven. In turn, he handed out the allowances to the maids and the death dealers.  
  
The Coven did not supply its vampires with cars; they had to buy it themselves. The cars then served as a symbol for status and wealth. In deed, Erica had been saving up her paychecks for quite some time. She did not see the need to buy a car; she never went anywhere. Jewelry had been different, but now she saw little need in that. Instead, she wanted a car. Erika smiled, Germany was a short train ride away and Mercedes had always appealed to her.  
  
London  
  
Kraven grit his teeth. Damn her! Damn her to hell! She had been within months of her cycle. He easily could have taken her. However, Selene had started her stupid investigation and ended up splitting him from the rest of the Coven and leaving with that thing.  
  
Kraven snarled at the bathroom mirror and punched the wall. Sonya had left to find a decent meal, while he bathed in the shower. She had slipped the note under the door and had left him alone. Kraven, although he would never admit it, was grateful she had left, she'd be scared if she saw him this angry.  
  
Kraven let his mind resume its former course. He had wanted to father Selene's baby. Her hormones would make her senseless and lustful. Then she would have to pay attention to him. He knew Viktor would have let him. If he could find her and kidnap her right before she gave birth, he would have a chance. One thing Viktor had not told Selene, Vampiresses would go into heat again if they survived the birthing experience, but saw the child die in front of them in the span of a month. He could still have her. What beautiful offspring they would make. Selene's farm, several days later  
  
Michael sighed and rubbed his eyes. He lay in bed with the sheets around his waste showing his perfectly sculpted body. Maybe not so perfect, complexion wise. There were scratches on his shoulders and marks on various parts of his body. In addition, he was exhausted; four days of procreation would do that to any creature, even a hybrid. He thought he had finished his role. He could hear Selene retching in the bathroom.  
  
The toilet flushed and the door opened. Selene's hair stuck to her sweaty forehead and she pressed a hand to her stomach. "Oh God." Her pallid face became a bit paler and she turned around, shutting the door.  
  
More retching. Michael groaned. He remembered when Selene told him how hard pregnancies were, but something told him that she thought she would be immune to it. If anything, it sounded like she was going to have a harder time than the others do. He was scared. She was not carrying a vampire fetus, and he worried that her body would attack whatever was lycan about the baby. He voiced his fears through the door.  
  
In between the retches, Selene replied that she didn't think so. The few Vampiresses she'd seen pregnant got this sick and stayed sick through the first semester.  
  
"I don't think we'll be leaving here until you have the baby," Michael opened the door and comforted her. He felt insanely protective of her now. He could smell the difference in her. The lust was gone and instead a more maternal smell started to replace it. She almost smelled like flowers and baby-powder. There was a new smell that hadn't existed before, too. Now it was intermingled with hers. Michael knew it belonged to the baby.  
  
Selene nodded rested against the toilet. She wore a robe, but little else. Michael himself had pulled on a pair of boxers and bent down to rub her back. "Done?"  
  
Selene shook her head and leaned over the toilet. She threw up more blood. "Now, I'm done."  
  
He picked her up and carried her to the bed. "We'll need supplies and vitamins for you. I think you might start craving human food, not just blood."  
  
Selene whimpered as he laid her down. "Michael, I'm so sorry for doing this to you, it's just...I did not want to wait another three hundred years when we had the chance now. Oh God though, I didn't know I'd be this sick. Forgive me, please."  
  
Smoothing back her hair, he spoke comfortingly to her. "Hush, it's ok. I'm glad this happened. I don't mind taking care of you. Even if the next nine or ten months are going to be hell. I'll do anything for you, and the baby." He touched her stomach for the first time and thought about how the zygote was just planting itself into her uterine wall. He'd do anything to protect that bundle of about sixteen cells. They were made of half of his genetic material.   
  
Munich, Germany  
  
Erika smiled as she handed over the money for the car. The CLK320 Cabriolet shone in the moonlight. Its black paint gleamed, and the same color leather interior smelled like a new car should. What a nice little thing. In addition, it was fast. Besides, it screamed class. Marcus would love it.  
  
Glancing at the latest newspaper she kindly asked the man how to get Moscow from Munich. Gracefully settling herself, she shifted the car into first and sped off. The skid marks didn't stop smoking till she was a mile away.  
  
Sorry this chapter took so long! I've had it on my computer for a month, but I wanted to add to it. However since I've been so busy with school I'll just post it. I'm sure y'all want to read it. 


	4. Lightning

I keep trying to edit, and re-edit the chapters of grammatical mistakes and add a little more detail here and there that was missing. I especially do it before another chapter comes out, so if those grammar mistakes and missing words drive you crazy, like they do me, I will fix them—eventually.  
  
Standard disclaimers apply. I only own Sonya and any of the other random names you see.  
  
I love the reviews, they inspire me to write.  
  
Warsaw, Poland  
  
Marcus growled at the vampire in front of him. Andrew Nadoski's large incisors gleamed in the moonlight as his upper lip curled into a snarl. He held a sword in his hand, not unlike the one Viktor had. Indeed, it had been a gift from the elder in the fourteen hundreds for telling him about Sonya and Lucian.  
  
"You've become a dog—worse!" Venom dripped from Andrew's voice. It covered his fear of the elder very well. However, his scent gave it away.  
  
Marcus's growl changed into a smile with fangs, if it could even be called a smile. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply before attacking.  
  
Blood splattered the walls.  
  
Erika cursed at the headline in the paper. He was in Poland now, who knew where he would move to next? Maybe she could find him before he moved. It had been a long time since she had been to her native homeland; she desperately wanted him to stay. Her fifty-year old memory still recalled the shortcuts and roads she grew up on as a child.  
  
Quickly heading into a butcher's shop, she bought herself a packet of blood. Drinking greedily in her car, she headed towards Warsaw.  
  
Two days later, Hungarian Country Side  
  
Michael wiped a hand across his sweaty forehead. Being immune to the sun had its advantages and disadvantages. Since Selene could barely move from bed, and required blood every couple of hours, he had gone to the nearest large city and bought several machines to help purify blood and do tests with. He had purchased everything a genetic scientist would want and then some. He also bought manuals, books, and equipment that would help him assess Selene and the baby's health throughout the pregnancy.  
  
Money was not a worry. Even though Selene had been saving her allowances from the coven for the past two hundred years, the sum would have only cover half of what he bought that day. While they were tracking Marcus, Selene had told him that she invested several thousands of dollars in different stalks throughout the ages. She had bought Microsoft when it first came out, and other stalks that had panned out nicely. She also owned real estate on four different continents under various pseudonyms that too pooled nicely into different funds. There was defiantly no lack of funds for the two of them.  
  
Michael had the impression that Selene escaped to her country villa more than he thought when he noticed all the modern technology. The Internet and other developments in technology, plus some less than reputable friendships enabled her to amass much of her fortune without the Ordoghaz vampires even knowing a thing about it. Selene also spent he money thriftily. The Jag she had crashed had been fifteen years old and the car they now drove around had not cost more than twenty-five thousand American dollars.  
  
Shaking himself out of his reverie, Michael smiled and continued repairing the broken down fences that surrounded Selene's farm. He would need all the space he could get for what he had in mind. Selene's blood supply was running low and, like Michael predicted, she had begun to crave human food—somewhat. Stakes and fillet of lambs had been her desired food. Michael himself had a somewhat larger than normal appetite now that he was a hybrid. Both his metabolism and now Selene's needed large amounts of energy to sustain them.  
  
"Where are we going?" Sonya cried at Kraven as he dragged her down the stairs of the hotel towards the car. She was dressed, but barely with her coat hanging off her shoulder and the straps of her high heels not even on her feet. Her brown hair looked mused and she carried an open bag with various clothing items trailing from it. Miscellaneous make-up stuffs littered the Hotel steps and Sonya yanked her arm free from him to gather some of the stuff up.  
  
Kraven snarled a "Hurry up or I'll leave you behind" at her before continuing down to the C230. He was in one foul mood and he knew exactly what had put him there. He hurriedly glanced at the full moon. As, if on cue, a howl filled the air.  
  
Sonya froze; her sharpened eyesight identified a large beast on a rooftop three blocks away. And then it turned towards her. Screaming she grabbed whatever was in the vicinity of her feet and threw her bag in the back seat of the Kompressor. Before she had even closed the door, Kraven sped off.  
  
"Was that a lycan?" Fear made her voice shake.  
  
Kraven nodded. "Younger one too, probably. They only live about three thousand years, whereas we live about five. However, they hate our kind and will stop it nothing to kill you or me."  
  
Sonya let out a shocked "Oh," and slumped down into her seat. She glanced out the window again before looking at Kraven. "How can we kill them?"  
  
"With silver bullets, there's a gun in the hand compartment with silver nitrate in it."  
  
Opening the glove compartment, Sonya reached in, clicked the safety off.  
  
"What in the world are you doing?" Kraven glanced incredulously at her.  
  
"Saving our asses. There's one right beside us." Before Kraven could do anything, Sonya rolled down the tinted window just enough to stick the nozzle of the gun out and fired a single shot.  
  
The beast howled before dropping to the middle of the street, dead. The body of the wolf-man shriveled up to that of young man who look like he was nineteen or twenty. Blood poured from a shot in his temple.  
  
Kraven smiled. Maybe having her around would not be as bad as he thought. He skills with a gun certainly secured their safety a little more.  
  
Selene groaned. She leaned over and retched yet again into the bowl. She was so weak that she could barely move. Earlier she had tied her hair into a low pony tale, however some of it had managed to escape and was now plastered to her fevered forehead. The fever had come the second day of the pregnancy; it would last for another couple weeks. During that time, her well being, and that of the child within her rested on Michael. She smiled thinking of him.  
  
Right now Michael was outside building a surround for cattle, erecting separate barriers to put sheep and pigs into, as well as building a hen house. He had this idea that he could take care of all the animals that would in turn feed them until Selene and the baby could travel.  
  
While he constantly reassured Selene that he cared for her and their baby, he said he'd go stir crazy if he stayed with her the entire day. If she needed him, he had a walkie-talkie with a 10-kilometer limit. The farm itself sat on 8 square-kilometers (5 square miles). The walkie-talkie would be fine—if not, he always had his cell phone on him.  
  
The 8 square-kilometers of the farm held several pasture, a broken down hen house and stable that he planned to fix, as well as the farm house itself and a smaller smoke house. Selene had said that the smoke house had a separate loft that served as a guest room as well. Michael smiled; there would be plenty to do around the farm until Selene had the baby. In between right then and the baby's birth he planned on fixing the place up well enough to serve as a permanent home. He did not want Selene traveling for several months, maybe years, after she gave birth. He grinned at his protective feelings. It was the lycan in him.  
  
Next day  
  
Erika kicked the door of her hotel sweet closed with foot and set her bags on the table. With a freed hand, she took her purse strap out her mouth set it by the door. She had arrived in Poland early morning the previous day.  
  
Tonight, she had gotten more blood bags from various butchers and checked in with some of the vampires she knew to be around.  
  
Supposedly Marcus was still in town. The trick was to now find him. A curtain ruffling in the breeze caught her attention. She had not left the windows open, had she? It was supposed to rain tonight. Glancing around the room, she grabbed a silver dagger from her purse. She walked over to the window and closed it, making sure she locked it this time. Behind her a shadow moved.  
  
Sensing something, Erika turned around quickly. Her palms began to sweat and her heartbeat sped up. Someone was here. She knew it. Flicking on the lamp by the bedside, Erika cautiously crept towards the bedroom. Adjusting her grip on the knife, she kicked the door open. The window in the bedroom was also open. She flicked on the bedroom light. Lightening flashed scaring her. By the time Erika closed the window, rain had started to pour and thunder sounded. She shivered.  
  
Breathing deeply, Erika tried to relax. "Come on girl, you're giving yourself the creeps." Lightening bolt struck the power pole outside her window. The lights brightened, dimmed, and then went out completely. "Oh shit."  
  
Undetected by she, a white smile decorated the bathroom hallway. He enjoyed this cat and mouse game.  
  
Erika picked up some matches from the bedside table and lit a hotel- provided candle. The scent of vanilla filled the air. Breathing in deeply, Erika sat down on the bed and removed her high heels. Rubbing her feet, she decided a bubble bath would be nice. She could not look for Marcus anymore tonight, the sun rose in three hours and she had some financial business to attend to before then.  
  
The shadow moved while she took off her shoes and pantyhose, residing in the kitchen.  
  
The sound of violins and pianos filled the air as Erika turned the radio to a classical station with the least static. After lighting enough candles for her to see by, Erika grabbed some soap balls and rose hips. In a graceful motion she dropped the contents in her hand into the bath. Bubbles immediately sprang up.  
  
The shadow watched Erika pin her golden locks up and remove her clothes. Her creamy flesh looked so appealing to him, he nearly groaned aloud. But that would ruin the surprise.  
  
Sinking into the warm water, Erika forced herself to relax. The combined scents of vanilla and rose wafted into her nostrils. Her body slowly unknotted itself from the days of driving and searching for Marcus. Lightning flashed, and the lights came back on. Because her eyes were closed and herself almost asleep, she did not see the shadow, now illuminated walk to the bathroom door to appreciate her gorgeous body.  
  
He settled himself down on a chair in the bedroom, next to the bathroom wall. This way he could hear her and at the same time see her when she came out of the bathroom. He picked up the paper and began to read, he had a long wait in front of him.  
  
Marcus sniffed the air. She was here, and someone was with her. Glancing at himself, Marcus wondered if he could control himself enough to not kill her, or her guest...if that was what he was. Marcus turned towards her hotel. He was an hour away.  
  
Kraven cursed. No vampire had seen hide or hair of Selene for a week. She had secluded herself. Kraven cursed. Sonya knew he was in a bad mood and kept quiet. He had left her in the car the nights he met up with the other Vampires. She had yet to meet any of them.  
  
Sonya's irritation increased as she thought of how little she and Kraven talked. Yet get into a room, and he'd begin his sweet ministrations to her. That was the cycle that their acquaintance had taken: silence, fuck each other during the day, and silence at night. Sonya glanced at the white tube in her hand, she smiled nastily. He had a little surprise coming to him, and she doubted he would like it.  
  
Kraven slammed the door as he got back into the car.  
  
"I'm pregnant."  
  
The snarl on his face turned into one of incredulity. "No you're not."  
  
"Idiot, I was human when we had sex the first time. And I had not had any birth control for several days."  
  
"You cannot be pregnant, you're not sick enough."  
  
Sonya nodded. "I've been getting sick after you fuck me and fall asleep. Look at this." She held up a pregnancy test. A plus sign indicated she was indeed pregnant.  
  
"That's just fucking great."  
  
Erika opened her eyes and smiled. She still had two hours before sunrise. Pulling on a robe, she stepped into the room and took the pin out of her hair.  
  
"Hello, Erika."  
  
Freezing in mid-step she turning around. A man with short, spike brown hair sat in the over-stuffed chair by the wall. He was the one in her room. Forbidding the memories to come, Erika steeled herself.  
  
The memories came anyway. A couple years before Kraven turned her, Erika met John. She thought it was love at first sight. They had been at a bar, and John with his leather jacket and bad-boy attitude and good looks immediately attracted her. She had been a daddy's girl back then, and John seemed to offer something other then safety and a routine that could be predicted.  
  
Like always, things had gone fine at first, but then the beatings started. He would always apologize after and say he never meant to, he only loved her. She should have left the second time he hit her. However, the violence escalated to him raping her weekly and beating the shit out of her.  
  
When John proposed, he swore to never hit or force her against her will. Desiring the fairy-tale romance with Prince charming, Erika said yes. A couple days before the wedding, John disappeared. Erika kept his ring in a jewelry box in the back of her dresser. Over the years she forced herself to forget him, swearing to never fall for another man, human or vampire, that would treat her horribly. But then there was Kraven, and he had been so charming.  
  
After Erika became a vampire herself, she learned that John was one as well. Luckily he was in a different part of Europe. Erika heard that his manners had changed little in the past 50 years. He was responsible for more than one hundred female human deaths in different parts of Europe.  
  
The dagger was on the nightstand. "Hello, John. It's so nice to see you. Tell me, are you here to get back your ring?"  
  
Shuffling his paper, he folded it and dropped it on the ground. Sighing he looked at his hands. Looking up, a gross smile formed on his face.  
  
Suddenly, Erika found herself pinned against the wall. John used his body to hold her to the wall and quickly brought both her hands up. She could feel his excitement. In a movement too fast to see, he slammed what looked like a metal staple into the wall, effectively pinning her hands above her head.  
  
The movement caused her loosely tied robe to come open a little more, revealing more of her body than Erika would have liked. Her still-wet hair hung around her head, the ends reminded Erika of stakes she wished she had.  
  
John leaned down and smelled along her neck and shoulder. "No worries my dear. It was a pity Kraven bit you before I had a chance to find you again."  
  
"You bastard. You beat me every day and night. Forced me to wear that piece of junk on my finger. Do you think I wasn't happy when you disappeared? I was relieved." Erika spit in his face with the last comment.  
  
He backhanded her. Leaning in closely, he whispered into her ear, "You are mine." Tugging her robe open he trailed his mouth down her collarbone, to her breast. And then he began to remove his clothes. Erika did not make a sound when he renewed his ministrations. Tears began to roll down her face.  
  
She sank into her mind and wished that Marcus would come for her.  
  
The next chapter is pretty gruesome. I have already started it. I though I'd be evil and leave this at a cliffhanger. Please tell me if it sounds ridiculous, or if I should change parts of it. At first I didn't know if the shadow should be Marcus or a person from Erika's past that wanted to harm her. I even wondered if I could fit her getting pregnant from this person in the story, but I decided against it.  
  
I want to say thanks to all the faithful reviewers: Redd, Lady K2, and VampyricAngel.  
  
This story has the most reviews out of all my stories, and I still have a lot to write! So thank you.  
  
And So far, this is the longest chapter. 


	5. Terror in the Night

Sorry it's been so long. I could not figure out how to move the story from one computer to another. So I'm beginning this chapter again. Hopefully I'll still get it where I want it to. Look for more characters.  
  
Ok, some of the random text you see are thoughts, so bear with me till I figure out how to get it into italics or go threw and make put it in quotes.  
  
Erika's apartment  
  
A slap brought Erika back to reality. Oh God, he was inside her.  
  
"I want you to be conscious for all of this and remember every detail, so that whenever you're with someone else, you will always remember me," John's voice intruded on Erika's thoughts.   
  
Why could he not leave her alone? Leave her in peace? Dull crystal blue eyes looked into crazy brown ones. Lids fluttered shut and a groan escaped him as he came inside of her. A fresh tear streaked her cheek. I thought I was done crying.

* * *

Marcus felt his heart hammer away in his chest. He wanted to push himself faster. What good was a hybrid body if you could not get to the one you needed so badly to save? Willing another burst of speed from his already exhausted body, Marcus pushed himself a little farther. You will not be of any use to her if you are exhausted when you get there. The salty scent of her tears reach Marcus's sensitive nose followed by the metallic smell of her blood. The bastard would pay. He would pay dearly, now Marcus could smell the man's seed, he was so close to the building.

* * *

A sharp pain in her neck brought Erika back to herself again. John's tongue lapped against her skin in an effort to taste more of blood. He seemed to be getting off on it even more. Erika unsuccessfully to let go of reality and sink into a mental world where she was safe. Every time he swallowed or sucked a little more of her blood seemed to pull her mind to that very spot of pain. Marcus's bite was so much the more pleasurable, but this pain was unbearable. Pain enveloped her mind so much so that she did not even notice the sound of breaking glass.

* * *

Determination seemed to be a permanent feature on the elder's face. He could see her building, then her window. A burst of energy from his powerful legs vaulted him close enough to her balcony. Hybrid claws dug into the brick mortar of the older building. The sound his claws made briefly reminded him of a human cartoon he had seen in America. What was the name? Oh yes, Gargoyles. Shaking his head he focused on scaling the wall.   
  
There was the window. A leg of the rail and then the other. He was over and standing on the balcony. From his view, Marcus could see the backside of a man pinning his Erika to the wall. An expression of pain covered her face, her brows were knit close together over eyes squeezed shut too tight. The insect was drinking of her. Marcus growled and burst through the window. How dare someone else drink of his?   
  
It was then he noticed her arms drawn above her head and stuck to the wall. He could hear her body hitting the wall with each thrust of the man into her. Oh God, he was still inside of her. The man lifted his head up, Marcus could almost feel his smile.  
  
"Well, it seems someone has come to your rescue. I'll not let you go without a fight," The man's soft words to Erika carried over to Marcus's ears.   
  
Erika's eyes opened to look into the man's. "Rot in hell, John." Erika hardly had time to blink before Marcus ripped John away from her, but not without harm. John had been gripping her side and his nails left wounds with how fast Marcus had ripped him away. Marcus? Thank you, God. Thank you for answering my prayers.  
  
The fight was over before it had really begun. Marcus stood there slightly hunched, his bluish-silver skin covered heaving back muscles. John was on the ground laughing at him and then time seemed to speed up Erika saw Marcus attack him too quickly for a reaction. John's cheek ripped open with the force of Marcus's blow. Another powerful swipe from Marcus's hand opened his scull. Blood and brain sprayed the ground and the wall. Some of it even landed on Erika.   
  
John's corpse landed at Marcus's feet. It was hardly recognizable. Then he turned and looked at her. Erika swallowed. Does he know who I am?  
  
Marcus seemed every bit the monster that the few eyewitnesses could describe. Bluish-silver skin covering muscle, with a face that seemed a mix between human and canine. A snarl revealed an innumerable amount of white teeth, very pointy white teeth, pointy and sharp. His forehead formed a V -shape and made his features all the more gruesome. Erika turned her head away and whimpered. He really is a monster that's out of control.  
  
Almost immediately, Marcus's expression turned from one of anger and hatred too shock and sorrow. "Erika, please don't look at me like that. I'm not a monster." Indeed, as he stepped towards her, his skin turned into a normal beige color as well as excess bone melting away and muscle mass shrinking into a normal amount.   
  
A hand touched the cheek that face outward. Marcus slipped his hand behind her ear to the back of her head, turning her face as he did so. With his other arm, he reached up and removed the staple. Erika's form crumpled as her legs refused to support her frame. Quickly cupping her lower back, Marcus brought her form closer to him.  
  
"Erika, please look at me."   
  
His voice broke through the cloud surrounding her brain and she complied. A sob escaped her and shaking arms surrounded his shoulders. Marcus brought her head to his chest and soothed her. His hand stroked her hair as she clutched at him screaming, crying, sobbing. "Oh God, oh god."  
  
They stood that way for a good five minutes before he discerned her mumbling instructions to him: my clothes, purse and keys; please let's go. Somehow, Marcus got her out of her robe and into a more suitable outfit. He ignored his body's reaction. Jesus Christ, she was just raped.   
  
Leaving her in the living room, he put whatever clothes she had unpacked back into her suitcase and gathered whatever she had brought in. He found her keys (noting the make) on the table and took her belongings down to her car. The next trip down, he carried her in his arms with her head on his shoulder, one arm under her knees and the other around the small of her back.  
  
In the morning the cleaning service found John's body. During the subsequent investigation, they determined that he was responsible for so many of the unsolved female rape and homicide cases.

* * *

Selene's farm.   
  
A scream shattered the dark air. Her stomach was on fire, it hurt. Oh God, what pain! Selene's mind raced. I can't loose the baby, no. Please, help. She had been tired, and wanted a nap before looking about the farm at Michael's handy work. Michael had wanted to get some rest along with her, and had snuggled with her on the bed.  
  
Michael was already out of bed, he scooped his mate up and carried her to his lab. The smell of blood assaulted his nose. Blood was flowing from between her legs. Then there was another smell that he wanted so badly to go away. The smell of death. The baby was in serious trouble. "Hang on. Selene. I'll find out what's wrong."  
  
In his mind Michael knew there was nothing he could do. She was so early on, there had probably been a genetic mistake between the DNA replication and the RNA inscription. Selene's head lolled back against Michael's shoulder. A torrent of blood gushed from inside and down her legs.   
  
They were in his lab now. He laid her down and propped her legs open. From what he gathered, he thought she had started to hemorrhage. Quickly donning on gloves, he set to work to try and save Selene. His nose told him the awful truth, the baby was already dead.   
  
Selene's head turned to the side. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as a myriad of thoughts and memories assaulted her mind.  
  
"Sister, how does it feel to be pregnant?" A younger version of herself asked a young woman. Her rounded belly betrayed a pregnancy of what looked like seven or eight months, she was only six months long.  
  
"I feel fat and swollen sometimes, but oh!" Grabbing the young girl's hand she quickly pressed it against a portion of the swell. Movement occurred under the girl's touch. "I don't think I'm having just baby. I'm too big, everyone says so. And there's too much movement for just one. I wouldn't trade these babies for anything though, Selene. I'm looking forward to meeting them."   
  
Another memory came to Selene. Her sister was swathed in candle light. He hair was stuck to her head with sweat, but a smile graced her face. Selene's sister was looking down into her arms at one of her newborn girls. She was feeding from her mother's tit, her identical sister was asleep in the crib. Selene had been glancing through a crack in the door way. She briefly remembered thinking how sad it was that their father had died while hunting. He'd never get to see his beautiful girls with heir blonde hair and blue eyes.   
  
Now Selene thought she'd never get to see her child. Her head swam and everything went black.   
  
Michael cursed. "I'm not losing both of you." Sweat beaded on his forehead as he continued working.

* * *

Kraven sighed in disgust. Sonja was indeed pregnant. She'd become violently sick to her stomach almost immediately after she told him. Kraven glanced at her as she retched into the paper bag.  
  
"I'm going to take you to some friends of mine that specialize with pregnant vampires and are responsible for some of the advances in reproductive technology for our kind, as well as for the humans."   
  
Sonja made some sort of noise and hoped it sounded enough like a noise of approval. Nausea swept over her again and she once again put her head between her knees.  
  
Kraven hid his disgust. The child would come in handy later. They always did. Spawn were not always that bad.

* * *

Please do not hate me. This is not the end. Not by a long shot. This chapter will probably be revised and more detail added before the next chapter is posted (whenever that may be). This chapter is the extremely rough draft version, as I'm going against sleep and the clock. So if you guys catch the grammar mistakes, please take note and point it out in the review instead of just saying that the grammar and spelling sucks. I know some of the wording it weird, but I ask you to also keep in mind that this story takes place in Europe.  
  
I am also going to try and keep updates within the span of a month. So at the latest, check back here around August 15th, if all goes according to plan. But anyway, I hope you like this. All of you Marcus/Erika fans should be happy, they have over two pages and do indeed take up the majority of this chapter.  
  
See everyone soon.   



	6. Healing

I'm sorry if I get any of the pregnancy facts wrong, I do not really have access to the internet all the time on the computer. So this is based off of what I know about pregnancies, how they can terminate, and some of it will be science fiction as this is science fiction as well.

Enjoy.

Also, if any of you are confused about how much time has passed, it was almost two weeks before the chapter. Selene lost her baby after a week, and Sonya is about two weeks pregnant.

* * *

Selene swallowed. Her trachea seemed stuck to the thick walls of surrounding flesh that made up her throat. It was dry. Selene briefly thought about how some human's described the after effects of anaesthesia. _If this is what it feels like, I'm glad I've never felt it before. _

Indeed, her entire body felt lethargic and ached. Then her memory woke up and tears welled in her eyes. Alabaster hands clutched at the sheet around her stomach. That is where it hurt the most. _My baby...My baby's dead._ A choked sob escaped the woman's throat and she clenched her eyes shut against the reddish fluid that fell from her eyes, staining pillow beneath. _We missed our chance._ Selene's sobs became more intense and she pulled her legs up to her chest as slowly and carefully as she could without hurting herself. Whatever Michael had done to save herself had involved cutting her abdominal muscles. Wrapping an arm around herself, she noticed that several IVs and monitors linked her body to machines.

Michael himself entered to see Selene curled into a feeble position. Her flexible legs were tucked under her chin, with one arm wrapped around them. She had her back to him, so he could only see the mass of clumped brown-black hair that was her head.

Selene had been out for a twenty-four hours. Michael thought he knew what the problem was and blinked back a few of his own tears. The baby's own genetics cost its own life and almost its mother's. Normal human babies and their mothers did not always have the same blood type. The placenta protected the fetus from attack by the mother's immune system if this occurred. Apparently, vampires did not have a way to protect their unborn children from their own bodies. _That would explain why so many vampire women miscarry_.

When Selene's and Michael's DNA mixed to create their child, it created a hybrid with more vampire genes than lycan, but lycan genes were still present. Not recognizing the foreign substance, Selene's body began to attack the fetus only several days after it had implanted itself into her uterine wall. If not for the extreme pain that she felt, Selene's immune system would have killed the fetus; if left inside of her, it would have rotted away and poisoned her slowly. She easily could have died.

Michael gripped the mug of warm coffee in his own two hands before walking around the bed to Selene. Setting the mug down on the night stand next to her bed, he laid down next to her and gingerly gathered her into his arms. Selene grabbed his shirt and buried her head into his shoulders. Her cries turned into mournful shrieks. Michael's own saline tears flowed from his eyes as he held onto his mate and stroked her back. They laid there taking comfort from each other knowing they sorrowed for the lost life that never had a chance to live.

* * *

Marcus eased his grip on the Mercedes' steering wheel. Taking a glance at the sleeping woman, tension slipped out of his shoulders and away from him. Sitting up a little more in the low sports car, he leaned his neck side to side and heard the desired popping noise of his vertebra releasing tension. Shrugging his shoulders up and down a few times, Marcus took a deep breath and released it slowly. He had come so close to losing her, Erika. Almighty, why had he been so stupid to leave her at that blasted place?

Erika's sleeping form shifted in the passenger seat. Her grey sweater clad arms wrapped around her body in an effort to keep herself warm. Light from the street lamps flowed over her body illuminating her briefly every couple seconds. Her head lolled toward him and a slight groan escaped her lips. Barely there blond eyebrows furrowed over closed lids and thick lashes blinked open.

"It's cold," Erika's body shook with a chill. Cracking her own neck and stretching a little she reached over and pressed the climate control button, raising the temperature a few degrees.

"I did not notice till I looked at you," The elder looked at her out of the corner of his eyes.

Seeming to shrug with her eyes, Erika glanced outside the window. "Where are we?"

"We about to pass through Czestochowa and are currently heading toward the Czech-  
Poland border. I'd say we've been driving about two hours. I didn't look at the time when we started"

Erika spied a glance at the speedometer. The elder that looked like an early twenty something youth apparently shared one of their qualities—a lead foot. The arrow pointed to a little over 160 KPH. Erika was suddenly glad she had chosen a little sports car. She could see town lights up ahead. Town lights and the beginnings of sunrise.

Before she could say anything, Marcus reached over and took her hand in his. "Don't worry young one. The sun will not reach this pretty white skin of yours." Never taking his eyes off the road, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed a knuckle on one of her digits. Releasing her hand, Marcus replaced his hand on the steering wheel.

An "oh" escaped her lips. Her hand tingled, the sensation seemed to travel her arm and should, past her neck into her neck making it hard to think. Shaking her head a little, a thought started to nag at her. "Where are my things?"

"I thought I'd leave them back at the hotel." Marcus took his eyes off the road long enough to watch Erika's face change from curious to furious. Chuckling, he cut her off before she could yell at him. "Relax, they are in the trunk. I took everything I could that was a necessity."

Swapping his shoulder, her face relaxed. "Don't scare me like that." He laughed at her again. They had arrived at the town Erika had seen a few minutes before. "Where are we going to stay?" Her blond eyebrows pointed downward indicating her worry.

"Elders have special lodgings in almost every town and city across Europe. Some of them are private like the one in this town, while others serve as places of residency for the coven there."

"This sounds stupid, but I thought that Ordoghaz was the only place where vampires lived besides the New World Coven. I'm so blonde." Erika laughed at herself. The elder smiled, revealing his slightly pointed incisors.

"I like blondes, I am one myself after all." He parked the black car next to a dark building. "This is our stop, the entrance is on the side." He was out of the car, and had opened up Erika's door before she had time to blink.

"You didn't have to do that. I'm capable of opening my own door. But thank you." Erika lowered her eyes to the ground, rose tinting her white cheeks, as she got out of the car.

"I thought I would try and show you that there is still some chivalry left in this world." Marcus place a hand on her hip, moving her enough to close the door. With one hand on her hip and the other on the car behind her, Erika felt slightly trapped. Blond lashes blinked upward.

Blue eyes met blue eyes, and Erika lipped her lips nervously. Bending his head towards his, Marcus averted his lips to her ears at the last moment. "If we don't get you inside, I'm afraid there won't be anything left of you in ten minutes." Erika glanced at the building behind her. The sun's rays barley graced the top. Her eyes burnt from just looking at them. Squeaking, Erika moved closer to Marcus.

"Save me from the sun please." It took him a moment to realize she had been joking. Moving under his arm, she walked briskly toward the entrance and disappeared into the building. Marcus breathed in deeply. Grabbing her belongings from the trunk, he quickly followed her.

"Sly wrench."

* * *

Sonya laid on a bed with blue hospital-like curtains surrounding her. Kraven could see her through the glass. He had taken her to some of his friends on Europe. They left England the night of the full moon and had arrived in Ostend, Belgium, early that morning. He had made a few calls and quickly located a vampire named Evan that owed him a few favors.

Evan was younger than Erika. While Andrew Nadowski had been traveling Europe in the 1980s, he stumbled upon Evan, a middle-aged scientist with an interest in fertility, ironically his own wife had her womb removed due to a cancerous tumor. Never mind the boy's specialty, the vampires needed scientists, and Evan was a scientist, a brilliant one at that.

He had been working with a team on test tube pregnancies before Andrew bit him. Some people said he was responsible for the first in vitro-fertilized (IVF) baby. Evan had gone on to study genetics with the vampires, but recently began helping the few pregnant vampire women survive their pregnancies, or even become pregnant outside of their cycles. Compared to Evan's lab, Michael's looked like child's play.

"Will she survive?" Kraven's brown eyes sought out the doctor.

Evan's thirty something body had not aged since the day he'd been bitten, but gray speckled his black hair and his grey eyes looked tired. "She will. I ran some tests on her genetic make-up since you said she was human when she became pregnant. I think that's why she didn't become so sick until now. Even though the human body dies when the vampire virus infects them, it takes a little while for everything to become vampire like. It's a little early for me to take a look at the baby's genetics without destroying it, but there's a chance that this baby could be a mix between human and vampire."

Kraven rolled his eyes, just what he needed, a human-vampire baby. "Kinda like a hybrid?"

Evan nodded. "Not quite like what Marcus and that Corvinus cousin of his are. But maybe yes. Her body has not rejected the fetus yet, and I've put Sonya on immune system depressants so that it shouldn't. We'll continue to watch her for the next week though. If you'll excuse me I'm needed somewhere else."

Kraven nodded and Evan walked away. Running a hand through his black hair, Evan sighed. He didn't care for the blood feud between the vampires and the lycans. Nor did he believe the reason behind it. Personally he was glad that there were hybrids around now. He would love to see some of their genetic material. And very soon he'd be able to.

Hitting a button, Evan stepped through a heavy metal door. Behind the door was his greatest secret, one that would cost him his life if someone found out what he was doing. A musky scent hit his nose as the door closed. This was the lycan side of his underground hospital. There was a tunnel that led directly into the sewers that the lycans could access to reach him.

Nina smiled at him from her chair. Her soft brown eyes filled with emotion at the sight of her mate. She was his wife in real life. After Evan had disappeared, Nina wandered the streets looking for him for a month. Unfortunately, the night of a full moon a lycan found her and bit her. She became absorbed into their blood feud for the next fifteen years.

One night she was tracking a vampire for reconnaissance purposes when she had discovered it to be her "dead" husband. They had been startled to see each other, and dismayed to find they were on opposite sides of the same war. That was when each stopped believing in the cause for the war, and Evan started helping lycans as well as vampires. It was Belgium after all, you could do what you wanted.

"How's everything going back here?" Evan leaned down and kissed his wife's forehead. Smoothing a hand over her brown hair, Evan looked at the tubes and containers in front of them.

"I think she had a nightmare, but everything's fine now." Nina waved her hand at the central container. It was lined with synthetic flesh that replicated the human womb. Most of the tubes and machines in the room monitored the life inside. Evan had taken one of his wife's eggs, implanted his own sperm and created a literal test tube baby hybrid almost six months before. The baby still slightly resembled an alien, but every day he and his wife could see changes.

Evan squeezed his wife's shoulder as he watched the silhouette of his daughter inside. He was among his family and that was all that mattered.

* * *

Two weeks later (Half moon)

Selene wiped the sweat from her forehead. Moving to the side she evaded the swinging punching bag and took a long sip of water. Even though Vampires survived mainly off of blood, they did require water for hydration purposes. Her stomach still hurt a little, but Selene had refused to dwell on the loss of her baby and had started training her body as soon as Michael let her out of bed.

Michael trained with her sometimes, but mostly he worked on fixing the farm. While there was no need for the extensive vision he had once had, it gave him something to do during the day. While Selene slept. She had started to close up again, pushing him away, but it was he who comforted her in the middle of the day when he smelt her tears when she cried during her sleep.

"I've been checking the web and the local newspapers. Marcus has not killed in the past two weeks." Michael stood in the doorway of the training room holding papers in his hand.

Selene glanced at him. Her black tank top had sweat marks under her chest, arms, and her entire back was covered with it. "That doesn't mean he won't kill again."

"Selene, he's left the Covin! He's not hunting lycans, he's hunting vampires. He's destroying the hierarchy for us."

Selene glared at him. "I still think we should kill him."

"Why? He hasn't done anything to us yet. If you want to kill someone, let's go after Kraven, and then let's decide where this whole war is and what's going on."

Michael registered Selene's nod and her dissipating anger before he turned around to walk out the door. He was tired, it was nearly 2 am.

"When do we leave?" Her question startled him. Normally she made the decisions, not him.

Looking over his shoulder, Michael took in her wrinkled forehead and open mouth. He hadn't touched her, except for comfort, since their last coupling. He still wanted her though. "I want to examen you in a couple days. If you're fully healed, then we'll leave."

* * *

So how was it? Sorry for the wait, I hope this was worth it. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter out sooner. I do plan on finishing this story though. I know where I want to take it. And I might even extend it some. Who knows. 


	7. New Starts

Ok. I know it's been a long time, but please bear with me. I don't plan on leaving this unfinished.

Thank you to everyone for their patience.

* * *

Ostend, Belgium: Evan's Secret Lab

Nina watched her daughter move around in the pseudo-womb. The hybrid baby looked more like a human baby now, but hair covered her entire body. Nina could watch this child for twenty-four hours a day and not grow tired of her. Evan had asked her to do just that and to write down what she saw. She already had a clipboard filled with today's notes. Their daughter had been very active. Nina knew her daughter could survive outside of her environment, but it would make her life a lot a harder if she were to be "born" at six and a-half months.

The door swung open behind her, the scent telling her that Evan had come in.

"How's Sonya?" Nina swivelled around in her chair, holding out her clipboard while she did so.

Taking it out of her hand, Evan glanced at his wife's notes and nodded to himself. He hadn't heard her question.

"Evan, how's Sonya?"

"What? Oh, she's fine. The medication I put her on is working. Kraven's disappeared though. Left sometime around 3:30 this morning. Sonya does not know where he went, but she seemed to know he would do something like this. She wasn't surprised when I told her I couldn't find him."

Nina snarled when she heard Kraven's name. All the lycans knew about his treachery to Lucian. When she first learned that he was there, Evan had to restrain her from killing him. Instead, he reminded her that his death would jeopardize everyone at the facility.

Nina turned around and looked at her daughter. She looked like a puppy scratching in a dream at that moment, with her leg kicking out and retracting automatically. "She's dreaming."

Evan placed a hand on his wife's shoulder. "What are we going to name her?" They'd been arguing over a name for several months, tossing ideas over dinners of blood and raw steaks.

"Hope."

Evan smiled. It suited the baby in front of them.

* * *

Marcus glanced at Erica's sleeping form. She would wake up soon, the sun had almost set. He hadn't touched her in the past two weeks. He had wanted to, but feared her reaction. Most of the cuts and bruises from John had faded away in the first two days, but Marcus would often awake in the middle of the day to hear Erica crying in her sleep, screaming "No! Not again". He would wake her up and hold her until she went back to sleep. He would then quietly slip out of her bed, his was in another room, and take an ice bath.

They had been staying in the one town for some time while Erica's mind healed. He had bought some gym equipment for him to train with. Erica often came in to watch him go over forms of the martial arts he had learned throughout the ages and quietly asked him to teach her. She said it would give her something to do other than sit in bed and think about what had happened. Marcus slowly agreed and wondered how long he would be able to resist her. She was a rapt pupil.

A noise escaped Erika's lips as she stretched. Sitting up, she wasn't surprised to find Marcus in her room. He held out a mug of warm blood to her. Thanking him, she closed her eyes and sipped her warm breakfast. He was so thoughtful and charming. Good looking to. She let her mind wonder to their first encounter in the elder's chamber. Absent mindedly she held a hand up to her neck and rubbed the spot where he had bit her. She wondered how he thought of her.

Opening her eyes again, she saw Marcus's unreadable blue eyes watching her intently, some of his blond hair fell down into them. Setting the mug down, Erika got out of bed. "What are we going to do once we leave this place?" It had been bugging her for the past two weeks. She had left Ordgohaz to search for Marcus, hoping to find out why he had been killing every powerful Vampire there was. She would have thought he wanted their support as a ruler. Now she had found Marcus, she did not know what to do.

"I think I want to return to Ordoghaz. I've been away for a month. Surely the coven is still in disarray and I need to reestablish my place as the remaining Elder." He stated this fact as it was the most obvious in the world. In truth, it had been bothering him since he had found Erika.

He himself did not know why he had gone on a killing spree, but lately it had been more obvious. The lycan side of him did not tolerate disobedience or insubordination. All the vampires that he killed had at one point in time been unruly and had threatened him with mutiny. He had instinctively gone out and put them in their place. However, one vampire remained: Kraven. His Betrayal to Amelia deeply angered him. She had been Viktor's younger sister, and his good friend growing up.

Erika had told him what had happened before he was awakened, how he came to be in the state that he was. She was not scared of the hybrid before her. And right then, that was all that mattered to the elder. He would deal with the rest of the Vampires later. He also knew that Kraven had not been since the night of the great battle that claimed Lucian and Viktor. Marcus had a deep respect for both of them now. Singe's memories surfaced in his dreams at night.

Of course, Marcus had been privy to the reason the war started. He only supported it because if he did not, then his coven would be at stake and Viktor would have found a way to put him in a permanent sleep.

"So, when do we leave?" Erika's voice brought him out of his reverie.

"Whenever you're ready."

* * *

Selene rolled her eyes at Michael. "Why not? Why can't we go find Kraven?"

"You're still recovering." Michael knew that her body had already healed completely. He wanted a couple more days of just her to himself before they left though. They hadn't really talked about the baby since she cried in his embrace that fateful night.

"That's bullshit." She turned away, brown hair flying around her head as she strode out of the gym to her bedroom, they had gone back to sleeping in different rooms after Michael "released" her from his med-lab. She missed his warmth during the cold days, but she'd never admit that to him.

Michael grabbed her wrist before she made it to the door. "Selene, please. Just a couple more days. Bear with me." Pulling her to him, he wrapped an arm around her waist. She stiffened in his hold, but he ignored it. Moving his other hand up to her neck, he tilted her head just enough so he could burry his head in her hair. Breathing in the scent of her, he gasped.

"I almost lost you." His voice was thick with emotion. He lifted his head from her hair to look her in the eye. "We lost a child, Selene. People just don't snap their fingers and say, 'Ok I'm over it.' Not most people."

Selene placed her arms on his chest, pushing him away a little. "I am a Vampire, Michael. I didn't feel anything for three hundred years. Not until I met you." Bloody tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She felt like she had let Michael down when the baby died inside her. "It hurt so much, Michael." She blinked and a tear made it's way down her cheek. Then she slowly returned his embrace so that her head rested on his shoulder and his hand stroked her hair. They stayed like that for a little while.

"Please, Selene, just one more night. Then we can leave. I promise." Selene's head nodded against his shoulder. Somehow, Michael knew that their days of separate beds had ended again.

* * *

Sonya was furious. She was not as sick as she had been, but she was still sick. And her hormones, were way out of control. Kraven had left her. He hadn't really been talking to her since they had arrived, but still. She was carrying his child! She felt her canines elongate. Glancing in a mirror she saw her brown eyes turn blue. She had been learning what triggered the change inside of her. Usually it was strong emotions or hunger. 

She was amazed at the blood lust inside of her. She craved blood every two-three hours now. She hoped it was because of the babe. Thankfully, she had stayed relatively slim so far. She knew her precious figure would go to waste before the end of it though. Evan allowed her to move around the lab. She had met a few other vampires, but most of them came in and left quickly, they were only there to talk to Evan and swap news. Evan disappeared a lot and rarely spoke to her about anything but the child inside of her. Touching her flat stomach, Sonya muttered, "I hope you're with it," under her breath.

* * *

Kraven pushed a hand through his oily hair. He needed a shower. And he needed to get back to Ordoghaz. A passing vampire had told him the coven was in disarray. Slan was trying to take care of it, but no one respected the new regent. Members were quickly loosing respect for him and there was talk of revolt. Kraven thought it was time to return to his home and take control again.

Ok. So that's Chapter seven. We are actually getting somewhere. There's going to be more action coming up. However, I have finals soon, so I don't know when I'll be sitting down to write the next piece. Please review.


	8. Return of the King

Thank you for all the reviewers. There will be more pregnancy details via Sonya and Hope the next chapter.

I hope the wait was worth it!

* * *

Slan swore under his breath. The finances of the coven were in disarray and there was pressure from the Hungarian government. Apparently there were some property taxes that Kraven never paid off. Looking at the revenue accounts from Zyodek Industries and their other source of Profit, Slan cursed again. There was not enough money to pay off the taxes that were due and the rest of the expenditures that the Coven had. To top it off, he had depleted the "rainy-day" fund when he gave everyone their allowances early. To say the least, Slan was in the middle of a lot of shit. 

The weather was not helping his mood. Storm clouds hovered over the mansion and lightning flashed. The following thunder boomed so loudly and followed so quickly that Slan wondered if the center of the storm were over the mansion itself. He was sure that to an outsider Ordoghaz looked like the Devil's house with it's dark grey paint, black shuttered windows, and shingled roof. The wind whipped tree branches against the window, debris flew around outside.

Slan stood at the window watching nature's fury. The rain hadn't broken yet but it would soon. Another bolt of lightning flashed and Slan rubbed a short-fingered hand against his eyes. No, it couldn't have been, could it? There was no one there. No one was outside, in this tempest? No. Slan blinked a couple more times. Another flash of lightning did not reveal the silhouettes of the two people he thought he saw. Besides, the dogs would have started barking, wouldn't they?

The booming thunder masked the sound of someone knocking on his door. Slan jumped when a maid called out to him.

"Sir, there are some people here to see you." Her blue blood-lust eyes watched the regent curiously. He was a short man, and resembled a middle-aged man, despite being around four hundred years old. His mouse-colored brown hair was combed to the side, masking a slowly growing bald spot. While they lived much longer than their human cousins, the vampires still suffered the same signs of aging. Eventually the men would go bald and grey, depending on genetics, and the women would loose what little fertility they had.

His light green eyes glanced at the girl, not really seeing her. "Do you know who they are?"

"No, milord. They refused to give their names. But I caught a glimpse of the girl. It looks to be Erika. She suddenly disappeared from here about a month ago. Never told anyone where she was going. Just up and left."

Ah, Erika. She was a sumptuous little maid, with her light blonde hair and blue eyes. She oozed sensuality in all of her movements. How unfortunate she was completely smitten with Kraven. Slan knew he would give her the world if she were to ask for it. Kraven was fool to ignore a beauty like Erika and go for the Death dealer Selene. Of course Selene had her own allure. The power of her position as Viktor's adopted daughter and one of the head death dealers. Too bad she had betrayed the coven.

"Very well, show them in."

The maid nodded, turning to go she ran into the tall man that had accompanied Erika. His face was in the shadows, but he exerted an aura of confidence and power. Some rumored that he was the missing elder Marcus.

"Show me in? Why Slan, I thought you had more sense than that. Treating an Elder as your equal." Marcus's naturally blue eyes laughed mockingly at the regent.

"Lord Marcus," Slan's short fingered hands quickly smoothed his flat hair, "You, you just disappeared. We went to awaken you, and your tomb was empty. How is that you are here?"

Stepping into the artificial light of the lamps that lit Slan's office, Marcus revealed himself. His authoritative black clad figure seemed out of place in an office where people spent most of their time paying each other false complements and gaining favor through sycophantic ways.

"Does it matter how I am here? I am here. That is enough for you to know." He could not have everyone in his business. It wasn't right for everything to be known about an elder, it was tradition to shroud the vampire elders in mystery and talk about unknown pasts and deeds. Marcus was certain that they would be talking for years to come about how he had suddenly returned with Erika by his side.

Erika, how much he felt for her. She was to occupy one of the rooms of the elder's chambers. She had gnashed her fangs at him when she found out that he wanted her there. It was the mistress's room she had whispered angrily to him. He only replied that he had his reasons, most of which were for her safety. There were many vampires in the coven that would not like his return, and use her to harm him. But he could not bear to leave her back at the holdings in the little town near Czestochowa. No he wanted her near him the entire time.

Slan groaned. He had been a lowly vampire the last time Marcus was in power. Too low to even meet the elder. And now he was the regent. He remembered people briefly saying that Marcus was a flippant pretty boy that cared only for his looks. Of course he could not know that Marcus had wanted people to think him a naive fop. It was better to appear naive, then smart and have aristocrats plotting against your own rule. Instead Marcus manipulated the people with his fake attitude. It seemed to work better than the Iron fist Viktor kept, or the willowy ways of Amelia–even though he respected them both. They each had their own ways of ruling.

Unfortunately Marcus would have to change the system up again. He was no longer a vampire, and he knew if he valued his head on his shoulders he would have to hide the fact as long as he could while he implemented changes that made lycans more acceptable to his brethren. Kraven had made his job so much the easier by betraying both sides. He was the common enemy.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," Marcus muttered the old addage under his breath.

"Pardon me, sir?" Slan's quizzical gaze had not left the elder. He was still trying to figure out he would be able to flatter this man he knew nothing about, the man that was rumored to have gone crazy and fled. The one that was rumored to be behind all the killings. No, how did you flatter a madman?

"Tell me about the state of the Coven. As regent you should be well informed. Or have the other vampires been giving you a hard time?" Marcus shut the dark oak door. It was time to take control.

* * *

How dare he! Order her around like that. Erika's hand gripped the glass of blood she drank. How dare he tell her that she'd been in one of his suit rooms. She was not his harlot! No matter how much she wanted to be. Not yet anyway. 

His harlot? No, Erika did not want to be some common mistress whore. She'd been Kraven's whore. That was not an experience she wanted to repeat. However, she thought she knew Marcus a little better than that. For her safety he told her! She was in his rooms, that he alone had the key to, for her safety! No, Erika was certain he wanted her there for himself. Greedy bastard.

The sound of the key in the lock gave Erika time to aim. The man had only been a half hour, but it seemed forever. The door opened and shut again swiftly as Erika hurled the glass in her hand at it. Damn his quick reflexes. She was angry at him! And now she had a mess to clean up.

"Temper, temper." Marcus stepped over the glass and blood. "Do you not like your rooms?" He slowly approached her with his hands in an upward position, offering a truce.

"Why you insufferable little hy–!" His hand quickly covered her mouth before she could get the word "hybrid" out.

Raising his other hand to his lips, Marcus signaled for her to be quiet. Leaning over her, he whispered, "There are ears everywhere in this house. Even my rooms. Be careful of what you say, People cannot know. Not yet." His words were soft and whispered against her neck. Turning her head lightly, her nose grazed his cheek.

Marcus suddenly dropped his hand and stepped back. Erika's eyes changed from the light blood-lust blue to their normal deeper hue. All her anger was spent. And she suddenly realized how tired she felt. The car ride had exhausted her. It had taken most of the night and then Marcus's talk with Slan. It was only an hour before the sun rose.

Bitting her lower lip, she gave Marcus her best puppy dog look. "I better clean that up." She motioned toward the head of glass and now blood soaked carpet. Quickly crossing the room, she bent at her knees and carefully started to pick up the glass. Marcus was at he side at an instant, trying to facilitate the job.

"Ouch!" In an attempt to hand her a piece, he'd accidently stabbed her finger.

Lifting the hurt digit up to his eyes, the elder stared at it the cut. Enough blood had welled up to for a dome. Erika's eyes were focused on her finger and not on him. She gasped when he bent his head and gently kissed the cut, lapping up the blood.

Marcus glanced up at her then. This mess could wait. Right now, he had more important things to do. Leading her away from the door, he told her to carefully throw away the glass that she had in her hand. Suckling the cut again he moved towards his chambers.

* * *

Michael glanced at Selene's sleeping form lovingly. It felt good to just hold her throughout the day while they slept. Tonight they would leave. Selene's farm was close to the southeaster Hungarian-Romanian border. Selene stirred in her sleep. An arm blindly reached for Michael. 

"I'm here," he whispered. Her body unconsciously rolled toward him, seeking the warmth her body failed to produce. It was strange he thought. Her metabolism was so high, yet the only time she'd produced warmth was when she had the fever. They had discussed where they wanted to start the search. It had been a while since they had stopped by Budapest.

Selene had suggested it. She said that Michael should probably check up on his lycan brethren, as he was Lucian's heir–albeit unwilling. She did not know of any other lairs besides the one in Budapest. It was likely that there was at least one lycan still there. Even if it was only to make sure it did not become too dilapidated. Michael also suggested that Selene could find out information about the state of the matter of the Coven. If Marcus had returned and maybe find some news about Kraven's whereabouts.

* * *

Ok. So that's chapter eight. I know it's mostly Erika x Markus, but they give me stuff to work with! No Kraven or Sonya, or Evan and Nina. But don't worry they'll be in the next chapter. 


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